Congressman Xavier Becerra and Congresswoman Diane Watson spoke powerfully Tuesday of their determination to get comprehensive health care reform passed this year for the hurting families of America. Six key clergy organized this rally and invited our Congresspeople to stand for Los Angeles families in their struggle.

The event in the video below was organized by LA Voice - the Los Angeles affiliate of the PICO National Network. PICO is a non-partisan community organizing working to organize congregations to bring about change in their communities, to better the lives of individuals and families.

While PICO and LA Voice are not supporting any particular legislation for health care reform (indeed there is no specific legislation to support right now, only a flurry of ideas) we stand strongly for four key principles:

Health care reform needs to provide families with quality health insurance choices that are truly affordable regardless of income (click here to learn about how an Affordability Standard in legislation will help achieve this);

Reform needs to cover everyone, so that no person relies on an emergency room for their health care or delays treatment because they lack insurance or have been denied coverage;

Reform needs to protect and enhance the health of lower-income families and children by strengthening Medicaid and SCHIP; and

Reform needs to rest on a financially sustainable foundation, providing people with the care they need when they need it and controlling costs.